The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life

GLENN

A Personal Note

I originally intended to write something in this space that would talk about all of the triumphs and setbacks I experienced during my journey to becoming the person I now am. But, as I started to write, the words rang hollow. I began to wonder about how honestly I could really assess myself. Would I be too critical or too easy? Could I really give an impartial analysis of how I’d changed over the years or would I be tainted by the way I interpreted my own past?

Then I had a thought: Why not ask my best friend and on-air partner, Pat Gray, a guy who’s known the real me for longer than I have, to write the introduction instead? I knew Pat could write from the perspective of someone who has seen me at my highest and lowest and who has witnessed firsthand the changes I’ve made and the struggles I still face.

Asking Pat to write the introduction seemed like the best way for readers to see the real me now, before diving into the book and seeing what it took to get here.

Fortunately, Pat agreed.

THE GLENN NO ONE KNOWS

BY PAT GRAY

Almost no one other than Keith Ablow has ever bothered to talk to me when they’re writing a story about my best friend, Glenn Beck. And that’s pretty odd. After all, I’ve known Glenn for over 20 years, through good times and bad, both personally and professionally. Many people might think that the context I could provide would prove helpful to anyone writing about him.

Reporters apparently think otherwise. Before this book, I had been interviewed a grand total of one time about Glenn. It was a few years ago when I was still working in Houston. A reporter doing a story for a well-known newspaper called, seemingly eager to know the real Glenn Beck.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with him, but his story only used one sentence of mine. And, of course, he tried to spin and twist the one quote he chose into something that would seem unfavorable toward Glenn. It turns out he wasn’t interested in knowing the real Glenn Beck after all; he was interested in creating his own version of Glenn.

Have you noticed that the people who write stories or books about Glenn (and there have been quite a few of them) almost never interview anybody who currently works with him? It’s always someone from his distant past with an axe to grind who gets quoted.

Why?

Is it that those of us who know him best have no credibility, but the guy who did the afternoon drive radio show in New Haven, Connecticut in 1993 is a 100 percent trustworthy source for all your Glenn Beck information? I don’t think so. Is it that reporters can’t figure out how to get a hold of me, or Stu, or any one of the other people who work here? No, I don’t think it’s that, either.

Sadly, I think the reason is that most of these reporters and people from Glenn’s past have no real interest in writing about Glenn as a person, they care only about the controversy.

So I thought this would be a good opportunity to show them what they are missing. Let’s start with Glenn’s company, Mercury Radio Arts. It now employs over 40 people and has lost maybe two or three employees in eight years. There is almost zero turnover. When people come to work here, they stay here. If Glenn were the monster that so many have alleged, wouldn’t there be a ton of turnover at his company? Who wants to work for a mean, hateful, racist, crazy employer?

Why is it that no one has bothered to ask how the people at Mercury can help produce three to five books a year, a live three-hour radio show, an hour of daily TV, a monthly magazine, several highly successful websites, numerous live stage tours and speaking events each year, and more? The answer is that Mercury is a well-oiled machine of people who truly care about and love not only what they do . . . but the man they do it for. Despite the intensity of the subject matter, the pressure of deadlines, and long hours, there is a fun and creative atmosphere at Mercury. The opportunities seem to be unlimited, and the possibilities seem endless. That tone is set directly by Glenn.

During the health care debate much was made about very expensive health plans that came to be known as Cadillac plans. We have those plans at Mercury—and they are free to employees. Glenn picks up the full tab. In fact, our health care plan is the best that money can buy in New York State. It’s not a Cadillac plan, it’s a Bentley plan. And you know how many employers in New York offer this plan free to their staff? One. Mercury Radio Arts.

Mercury is a family and, because of that, we can do things that businesses with 200 or more employees could only dream of. There is no controversy, no drama, no infighting. And that is exactly why no one ever cares to ask about it.

It’s really unfortunate because the real story about Glenn is so much more interesting than the lies. The real story revolves around a man who was very unhappy in his life—miserable, in fact—but who became extremely happy and successful by changing his life. (Yes, I know it may seem like a contradiction because of how concerned Glenn is about the plight of the country, but, believe me, while he may drive everyone around him insane, he’s actually quite happy.)

Everyone can see the visible, tangible trappings of the success that Glenn has attained: Time, Forbes, the New York Times, and many others have written extensively about that. Those trappings include, of course, a multi- million-dollar company (he pays his staff extraordinarily well, in addition to the aforementioned health benefits), luxury cars, a beautiful home, and amazing vacations. More important, he has a lovely wife, Tania, with whom he has two beautiful young children, and two more amazing adult daughters. In other words, both in the material and emotional sense, Glenn has built a great life.

What most people don’t necessarily see, however, is the real story of Glenn’s transformation from someone who, for the most part, did not like people at all when I first met him, to a man who now genuinely loves and cares for them. From his friends and family, to his employees, business partners, and even people he’s never met, Glenn’s devotion is second to none.

Next time you meet Glenn out on the road at an event or a book signing, pay close attention to how he acts. Is he different when the cameras and microphones are off? Does he change when he knows that the national media isn’t watching? Of course not. He stops and talks to everyone—he shakes hands and takes pictures with fans, police officers, event security, event organizers, stage hands, janitors, everyone. Again, none of it forced, stilted, or mandated by some corporate public relations person—it’s completely genuine.

He also gives. He gives of his time, his voice, and his money. In fact, he often gets into trouble with the person who manages his money because he gives so much. He has used his success to improve the lives of countless others. He doesn’t share that with the world or use it as a public relations strategy; he just does it because it’s what he believes in. I’m only sharing this much with you now because it’s an important part of understanding his transformation; a huge part of why he is happy today. He serves others and, through that, he serves himself. He truly believes that the more you give the more you receive. And he doesn’t just preach it—he lives it.

Glenn has gone from a man whose motto 20 years ago was, I hate people to the person, as I just described, that people love to work for. He truly engages and embraces his fellow man. We get thousands and thousands of cards, letters, notes, books, manifestos, and scraps of paper stapled to toilet tissue with a plan to save the country scrawled in crayon from fans wherever we go, and he goes through virtually all of it.

I don’t mean to create the impression that we’re dealing with a perfect being here. Far from it. Glenn would be the first to tell you that, like all of us, he’s a work in progress. He still struggles to be a good husband and father nearly every day. He struggles to find balance in his life, and he still struggles with all the day to day pressures and distractions that most of us do.

But it is so frustrating to see those who intensely dislike him try to label him as an actor, as someone who is insincere and says what he does for the money. Nothing could be further from the truth. No one is more sincere, no one loses more sleep, no one spends more time praying for, and worrying about, the state of the union, and trying to figure out how to wake people up to the situation we face than Glenn does. Believe me, there are far easier ways to make money if that was all he cared about.

One of the things you learn in talk radio is that you can’t fake it and still be successful. (Well, I guess you can for a little while, but, eventually, you’ll be found out.) With three hours on the air each day, listeners and viewers can spot a phony from a mile away. Glenn didn’t become successful in broadcasting by being fake.

Back in our Top 40 FM morning-show days together, when he did fake things, and lied a lot, his success was temporary. He made a lot, and he spent a lot. It worked for a while, it brought him some fleeting gratification, but then it all evaporated. Only once Glenn opened up and became honest, genuine, and real . . . and combined it all with something you’ll read about later in the book, his faith, did the windows of Heaven open up for him.

One of the biggest shows on TV right now is a reality show called, The Biggest Loser. It follows the progress of people who are trying hard to shed massive amounts of weight. It’s amazing to see people lose 100, 200, or even 300 pounds. But what’s even more amazing than losing a lot of weight is when the contestants can keep it off. Many, if not most people who lose weight gain it all back within a few months. Therefore, it’s noteworthy, and gives hope to others, when someone becomes so committed that they change their habits for the rest of their life. Everyone wants to know how they did it, what their secret was.

That’s what this book is about. Glenn lost about 300 pounds of nastiness, sorrow, sin, ego, addiction, and misery in his life. But, much more incredibly, he’s kept all that weight off of his shoulders for a long, long time. How did he do it?

That’s the story you’re about to read.

Pat Gray

New York City, 2011

KEITH

The How, Why, and Way of This Book

This book did not happen by accident. It was meant to happen.

It all began about five years ago when Glenn and I sat down together to tape a segment of his television show. We had never met before. We had never even spoken or exchanged emails. The television producers—who turn out to have known us pretty well—simply thought we would have something interesting to say to one another about the power unleashed when a person finds his or her inner truth. They had a feeling the discussion would make for a good television segment. That’s all.

As the cameras rolled, we began talking about finding the courage to live honestly and fully. But we didn’t stay with generalities for long. It was odd, but we felt safe with one another, as if we’d known each other for years instead of minutes. Very quickly we began talking from the heart about the wrenching challenges Glenn had faced in his life: his mother’s suicide, his addictions to alcohol and cocaine, getting fired, financial ruin, health issues, and divorce.

There were the times in Glenn’s life when ego or anger or greed had led him to make bad decisions that nearly destroyed him.

Many people never feel comfortable talking about such issues with one another, yet here we were, discussing them on national television, just minutes after meeting.

We talked about the fact that Glenn’s willingness, after a long struggle, to admit his shortcomings and face the sources of them had been essential to his triumphs and to his pursuit of genuine happiness. We agreed that tapping into a higher power was the single most important ingredient in his rebirth and that it was the essential and ultimate key to personal transformation for every single human being on the planet.

Maybe that kind of quick trip from surface to soul is inevitable when a man who has practiced psychiatry for a few decades and a man who has triumphed over decades of deep despair sit down together—but my experience tells me that it’s not. Had either of us been unwilling to really speak to the other, or if either of us had been intent on not really listening to the other, then our immediate bond would never have been forged.

That single meeting could have been our last. But it wasn’t. Not even close. Such is the power of the truth.

Sharing what we really believed, if only for ten or twelve minutes on set, had forged a rare connection between us that would not be easily broken. The fact that we understood one another at a basic, human level and suspected we could trust one another felt like the start of a journey. We had no map where it would lead and no expectation that it would lead anywhere in particular. We were simply willing to believe (though sometimes that is not simple at all) that a path might already exist, that our intuitions were pointing the way to real possibilities just waiting for us to explore them. We were willing to believe we had met for a reason.

Everything happens for a reason.

We ended up talking many more times on television and on Glenn’s radio program, speaking privately in Glenn’s studio, and meeting for dozens of hours in our offices and homes. We became more than host and guest, or even just valued colleagues. We came to believe that remarkable—even miraculous—changes are possible when gifts like intuition, spirit, and intention are unlocked and embraced. We came to see that the principles that have guided my career are the same ones that have instinctively guided Glenn to replace nearly unbearable pain with genuine happiness and wonderful success.

There is immeasurable, life-altering power in these principles; they just have to be utilized in the right way.

The book you now hold in your hands is the first step toward learning how to do just that. Glenn and I are committed to sharing what we have learned about unlocking human potential. It may be the single biggest reason we met. We don’t know. We’ll just have to see. That’s the point. Our eyes will have to stay open as to what might be next. And we’re okay with that.

We understand that no person’s life is precisely like any other’s, but we also understand that one life story can reflect the challenges each and every one of us faces in attempting to love ourselves and others and pursue happiness. Mark Twain reportedly once said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. The same can be said for human experiences. No two human experiences repeat themselves exactly, but there are underlying patterns that occur again and again—patterns we can learn a tremendous amount from. Why is that? Why can one life, honestly told, influence many lives? Why can human beings learn from the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of others? What energy is being tapped when one person is willing to completely open his or her heart and soul to others?

We believe we know the answer: The energy that is unleashed is directly related to human empathy—the inexplicable web of humanity that connects us all. Human empathy, while not found on any chart of human anatomy, is the reason we instinctively hurt for our children. It is the reason we can put ourselves in the place of others and do right by them. It powers the charity that relieves the suffering of people whom donors have never laid eyes upon, and it is the reason that one human being’s intensely personal tests and triumphs can be harnessed to the good of countless others.

That is the way of this book.

So many of us believe we are alone in our shortcomings and fears and challenges and questions and hopes and dreams that we must keep ourselves undercover, lest we be seen for the imperfect people we are. But nothing could be further from the truth. There is far more that connects us than separates us. We are all struggling. We are all on difficult, sometimes tortuous, journeys that are really meant—designed, in fact, by God—to lead us to the best in ourselves.

Put simply:

You are the temple of God. (Corinthians 3:16)

In the pages that follow, Glenn and I quote leaders and thinkers of virtually every faith and movement, from ancient times to modern times. Some of these people we’d likely vehemently disagree with on political or religious issues—but healing is not about politics, it’s about understanding our place, our path, and our potential.

Our goal has been to search out the timeless, ultimate wonders of truth that can change lives. In looking for them, we searched where lines of truth emanating from many different directions intersect. We tried to show no favoritism and no fear of its source, for it is at